Josh Warrington has chosen to take the rematch with Mauricio Lara on September 4th stubbornly, but unfortunately, this could very well be his retirement party. The fight will be streamed on DAZN live on the night.
Warrington says he wants “revenge” against Lara to right the wrongs from what happened to him five months ago at the Wembley Arena in London. If Warrington is successful, he’ll be right back where he was before his loss to Lara.
Warrington can then face the WBA secondary 126-lb champion Can Xu, as he previously planned, and look to relieve of his title. Xu isn’t a puncher, and it’s a fight that Warrington can win.
Is Warrington making a mistake?
Josh believes that fighting in front of his home crowd in Leeds will give him the burst of energy that he needs to avenge his previous defeat against the much younger fighter.
Additionally, Warrington has watched the replay of his devastating knockout loss to Lara, and he feels that he knows what he did wrong.
Obviously, choosing to slug with Lara wasn’t the brightest idea for Warrington, but that’s how he’s fought his entire career. Warrington has always been a high-volume puncher, not a boxer.
It’s widely believed that for the rematch with the hard-hitting Lara, Warrington will try and change the way he fights by staying on the outside, jabbing & moving for 12 rounds. In other words, Warrington will change his boxing DNA to become something he’s never been during his career.
It sounds like a crazy idea, but this is what Warrington wants. Surely, taking some tune-ups first would have been the best thing for Warrington to do, but it’s got to be mentally upsetting for him to live with the humiliating defeat he suffered at the hands of Lara last February.
A second knockout defeat for Warrington will surely signal the end of his 12-year professional care. Sure, Warrington can continue if he’d like, but what would be the point?
Josh’s chances of fighting for world titles will be down the drain, and he limited to fighting domestic-level fodder on the Matchroom Boxing undercards.
It’s understandable why Warrington wants the chance to avenge his loss to Lara, but it’s foolish that he’s chosen to go straight into a rematch without taking a couple of tune-ups first.
The former IBF featherweight champion Warrington (30-1, 7 KOs) had been given plenty of warnings from people not to face the powerful Mexican knockout artist Lara (22-2, 15 KOs) after being obliterated by him in nine rounds earlier this year on February 13th in Wembley.
Josh taking a big gamble
Instead of listening to the boxing public, Warrington has chosen to ignore them steam full ahead straight into what could be a disaster waiting for him inside the ring on September 4th at the Headingley Rugby League Stadium, Leeds.
Warrington wants his revenge, which is understandable given what happened to him last February.
What was supposed to be an easy tune-up bout for Warrington to get him ready to challenge WBA secondary featherweight champion Can Xu turned into his Waterloo with the unheralded 23-year-old Lara dropping him twice before the fight was mercifully halted in the ninth round.
You can argue the massacre should have been over by the fourth round because there was no way on earth that Warrington was going to be able to survive after he was knocked down hard by Lara in that round.
Although Warrington is still young at 30, he’s old for that age. He looks like an old 30-year-old, not a young one. There is a difference. Some fighters can be 30 and are more like 40-year-olds. Maybe the many years of going to war with different fighters have aged Warrington well beyond his chronological age.
In Warrington’s case, he’s more like a 40-year-old. He’s not a bad fighter, but clearly not good enough to hang with the young sluggers like Lara and Emanuel Navarrete.
“It’s been an up and down period, time for reflection and to reassess myself, said Warrington. “I’ve watched the first fight a dozen times. I’m mentally and physically prepared for Mauricio. It won’t be the same result; I want revenge,” said Warrington.
“It’s going to be a huge event in Leeds; I can’t wait to get back in there and rewrite the script. It’s nothing personal, just business. September 4th, we get back on track to the top,” said Warrington.
Fighting back at home in Leeds might not be a good idea for Warrington because if he loses again, it’s going to be a huge letdown for the fans. But if this the end game for Warrington, I guess it’s better than his career come to a halt at home than if he were fighting away.
What will Hearn do if Warrington loses again?
Eddie Hearn will need to make a decision on what to do with Warrington if he loses the fight. Does he keep Warrington on as part of his Matchroom stable or does he cut him loose? The real question is, can Warrington be retooled after a second knockout loss to Lara? I have my doubts.